All Tests – 2012 Kawasaki ER-6f Test: and for a few euros more … – Bad times for the ER-6f

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Kawasaki ER-6f 2012 test: and for a few euros more…

All Tests - 2012 Kawasaki ER-6f Test: and for a few euros more ... - Bad times for the ER-6f

Four months after discovering the new ER-6n 2012 on sublime roads in Portugal, Site is testing the streamlined version of the little Kawasaki roadster on the more picturesque departmental roads of Normandy. For 500 € more, what the ER-6f offers ?

Bad times for the ER-6f

It’s cool, it’s gray, the roads are dirty, so is my bike … This isn’t a biker nursery rhyme, but a summary – or rather a caricature – of our last Kawasaki test date: that of the third version of the ER-6f !

Availability, colors and prices

  • Available: immediate (ABS in April)

  • Colors: black or green

  • Price: € 6,999 (ABS + € 600)

Indeed, unlike the ER-6n 2012 presented in October 2011 to all the European press in the biker paradise that is the Algarve coast (in the south of Portugal), its sister carenee had to be satisfied with later and less sumptuous national press launches.

"If in France, version "f" represents only about 20% of the total volume of ER-6 sold (or 800 units, Editor’s note), on the other major markets the ratio is more of the order of 35 "f" for 65 "n", with the notable exception of the United Kingdom where 60% of "f" are sold for 40% of "n"", nevertheless illustrates the French press manager.

To discover the dressed ER-6, less important than the naked "top model" – in terms of sales – Kawasaki France had therefore concocted us a short drive in the Nantes region..

The ace. Due to the bad weather – and perfectly aware that journalists are animals to be stroked in the sense of their silky and delicate hairs … -, the French subsidiary of Kawasaki preferred to cancel this test scheduled for earlier this month !

We must admit that the snow gathered on the west coast would have seriously compromised the dynamic test of this fourth Kawasaki novelty of the year … "What do you mean, the adjustable bubble does not go down enough to act as a snow plow?"

The windshield is precisely the element that primarily catches the attention of MNC when discovering "for real" this ER-6f 2012. On the black model available to us, the screen is clearly higher than on the other two green test models.

"There are three positions for the bubble and the amplitude between the two extremes reaches 6 cm", explains a member of the Kawasaki technical team. Unfortunately, there is no need to pull or push the screen to modify its height: it is fixed by four screws to the fork crown and can only be moved by means of an Allen key !

"Generally people do not play for long with the settings of their bubble, they choose above all the one that suits their size, whatever the route envisaged.", believe the Greens know … But the argument does not seduce us completely: a more easily adjustable bubble – as on the Z1000SX, for example! – would have been welcome !

The skin of the new small road bike, on the other hand, is deliberately inspired by those of its famous big sisters: "the advance of the front fairing takes the lines inherited from the Z1000SX", describe the Japanese, while at the top of the flanks"deep openings recall the ZZR1400, the new flagship of the Ninja range".

The other modifications made between the 2011 vintage of the ER-6f (2009 in fact, read our) and that of 2012 are identical to those made on the model "n".

In its great kindness, MNC reminds you of the main changes: increased engine torque at low and medium speeds, new slimmer frame, new double-tube swingarm, longer suspension travel, more comfortable saddle and new on-board console..

Billed 500 euros more than the ER-6n 2012 – but also 500 euros more than the ER-6f 2009 when it was released (ah, inflation, the yen-euro parity, etc.) -, which brings more this Er-6f 2012? Elements of response on the following pages !

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